Posts Tagged ‘Bob Fosse’

From May 15 to May 30, the Los Angeles Ballet finishes its fourth season with the unveiling of four contemporary world premieres by acclaimed guest choreographers Mandy Moore, Travis Wall, and Sonya Tayeh of the FOX hit, So You Think You Can Dance, and LA’s Josie Walsh. Titled “New Wave LA,” the program presents cutting edge, innovative movement from some of the brightest beacons on the choreographic horizon.

LAB Artistic Directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary have commissioned new works each season – but presenting four world premiere dances on a single program is all but unheard-of for a classical ballet company. That three of the four young choreographers featured in LAB’s production come from the hit TV show, So You Think You Can Dance is no accident. In 2008, dancers from Los Angeles Ballet made an impressive appearance on the series, and last July, Thordal Christensen choreographed the first-ever classical ballet piece for the show. That some of the show’s resident choreographers return the favor seemed natural.

Mandy Moore’s caffeine-infused, witty “Wink” opens the show. Moore was inspired by “the world of Internet dating – profiles, coffee dates, second dates,” she writes in her program notes,”and all the awkwardly beautiful moments along the path to finding true love.”

In an early rehearsal at the company’s vast West Side studios,  two dancers catch each other’s eyes in passing and chuckle, and Moore hollers, “Keep it!”  Her rehearsal is focused and disciplined, yet full of humor. “Dance is so silly to me when people don’t react to each other,” she tells her dancers. “Don’t just ignore them – especially if they’re cute!” One of the choreographers for Celine Dion’s “Taking Chances” World Tour, Moore’s eclectic style has delighted viewers regularly on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.

Down the hall in another studio, Los Angeles native Josie Walsh is working with another group of dancers. Walsh danced with the Joffrey Ballet, Zurich Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre, before returning to LA to found MYOKYO Renegade Rock Ballets in 2000. Her ballet, “Transmutation,” was developed from a piece originally commissioned for LAB’s first choreographic workshop last summer. It evokes the visceral interplay between “the male and female archetypal energies,” she explains, “the friction of opposition creating balance. If we didn’t have opposition, we’d be looking for it, for the wisdom of the middle road.”

Walsh creates movement organically, empathically on the dancers, making changes as she works to achieve integration of body, mind, and spirit. “I don’t like to dictate,” she says. “I use what IS, in the moment. My intention is to cultivate the Presence of each individual dancer.” The music – specially created for this ballet by Walsh’s husband Paul Rivera, Jr – inexorably throbs and pounds, ultimately leading to transcendent stillness. Award-winning contemporary choreographer Travis Wall left home at 12 to appear in The Music Man on Broadway. Runner-up on season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance, Wall later returned to the show as a featured choreographer. This year he was assistant choreographer and dancer for the Academy Awards show, and created a piece featuring New York Ballet principal ballerina Tiler Peck for ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Wall’s “Reflect. Affect. Carry On…” for LAB is a bittersweet love story inspired by Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” U2’s “With or Without You,” and Sigur Ros’s “Samskeyti.” His unique style is a seamless hybrid, melding elements of classical ballet and contemporary dance. As he shares his very individual dance vocabulary with the dancers, I am struck with the sense that this remarkable 22-year-old may be the Bob Fosse of his generation.

Her stylized movement relying substantially on aggressive one-on-one physical contact, Sonya Tayeh directs “combat jazz” and contemporary dance as a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance. Her dances incorporate a personal, quirky style with the essence of contemporary technique, producing startlingly original combinations.

In “The Back and Forth,” Tayeh has created a flamboyant, show stopping finale for “New Wave LA.” With huge appreciation for their virtuosity, Tayeh’s shrieks of “Yes!! Yes!!” goad her six dancers into reckless, dangerous flight to Piazzolla’s “Libertango.” She is completely collaborative with the three couples, igniting fire and passion in their dancing. “When the matador meets the bull, the back and forth begins,” she says.

- By Penny Orloff

Performances of “New Wave LA” are on Saturday, May 15 at 7:30 pm at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center; Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 pm at Glendale’s Alex Theatre; and Saturday, May 29 at 7:30 and Sunday, May 30 at 2 pm at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For more information, please visit www.losangelesballet.org or call 310.998.7782.

Until I got to LA, the world of burlesque was somewhat foreign to me. I had a vague notion of 1920’s showgirls doing Bob Fosse numbers for over-excited guys in trench-coats and fedoras, a lot of nasally yammering and two-note whistles. But even this general notion of burlesque was gleaned from Looney Tunes and old movies, not real life.

Then in LA, I realized there was an actual burgeoning scene, filled with human beings, or at least the Hollywood equivalent. It seemed everywhere I went, there was some amateur poster or postcard hanging up, featuring a scantily clad woman in heavy make-up, teasing me to visit the “Saturday Night Follies” or “Beatrice’s Boudoir.” Thus I developed a kind of adverse reaction to the ad saturation. I felt these so-called burlesque girls were simply suburban strippers in disguise, lacking the fortitude to go the whole way. To me, it was post-feminism imploding in on itself.

Still I hadn’t yet seen a burlesque show with my own two eyes, and had very little idea what it entailed. So this past Sunday night, I decided to get up off my hypocritical, ivory-stained tuchus, and check out “Red Snapper’s Sassy, Classy Burlesque Revue” at The Sherry Theatre in North Hollywood.

I held some hesitation over whether to bring a notebook or not. Normally I always bring a notebook to any event I review, whether it be a gallery or a film screening, but the idea of taking notes while a girl is showing off her tasseled breasts seemed somehow creepy to me. In the end, I decided to take notebook, but keep it on the down-low.

Right from the start of “Red Snapper’s Sassy, Classy Burlesque Revue” I realized how ignorant I’d been. There was a giant, inflatable bottle of Absinthe set up on the stage, three guys in sharp suits and slicked-back hair sitting behind me—each toting a bottle of champagne and going by the monikers of Frederick O’Hollywood and Patrick the Bank Robber. Burlesque, it seemed, was a kind of costume party, a carnival, a renaissance fair for those who preferred jazz with their coffee. And everyone was happy.

The first performer, one Mr. Snapper (aka Andrew Moore), the emcee of the night, got things going with a cute ukulele rendition of Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies,” pitch-perfect trumpet scat-singing and all.  But in burlesque, there’s no such thing as cute—or even perfect—without raunch. So Mr. Snapper told a dirty joke before bringing up the premiere dancer: How does a college man propose? Answer: You’re having a what?

Bebe Firefly, the first lady as it were, was the reason for the inflatable Absinthe bottle. She was dressed as a dolled-up green fairy, the kind that supposedly pops up every once in a while under the influence of the nationally illicit spirit. To the tune of a jazzy, speed-guitar riff, Bebe proceeded to mix a glass of alcohol with sugar on stage, consume it, and promptly shake her hips and bust until all that was left was a thong and some tassels. The crowd, both men and women, all hooting and hollering, loved it.

Next up was Iona Vibrator, donning an elaborate, Asian/New Orleans fusion outfit, which came off in a similarly ritualized fashion to that of Bebe’s. After her: Ms. Jessabelle Thunder, who’s David Lynch-esque number made me realize the hypnotizing effect of such dances. It’s mostly just simple back and forth, some turns and winks thrown in, but for some reason it’s just enough to keep you swaying along with them.

The show’s producer and name-sake, Red Snapper, arrived on stage next, ushering the audience into the second half of the night—the more experienced girls. Snapper was obviously a crowd favorite, more than comfortable strutting around in a pair of garters and stockings, doing a kind of naughty 50’s housewife parody. The supposed female empowerment associated with modern burlesque became more apparent in Snapper’s performance. She possessed a definite control over her own teases, an excited familiarity with her routine that translated into a kind of feminine pride.

Panama Red followed, with Costa Brava not far behind, each showing off their own expertise with unique additions to the basic ritual of the formalized strip-tease. Whether it was Panama Red’s jungle-themed chest-shake, or Costa Brava’s feathered fan dance, these girls clearly knew what they were doing, and found ways to make playful what could become tiresome.

The show-stopper, both literally and figuratively, was Evie Lovelle, the seeming celebrity of the group, appearing in her last performance before a European tour. As she came out from backstage, wearing a tight corset which practically choked her tiny, tiny waist, the audience went nuts. And I could see why. She had long, black hair; gorgeous, pale skin; and a knowing smile that’s typically reserved for starlets of the silent film era. She’ll fit in just perfect in Europe.

Leaving the show, I talked to two female members of the audience, both of whom expressed interest in trying out burlesque themselves. They said they appreciated how the medium applauded real women, and how even conventionally “flawed” body-types could be made beautiful and powerful. As for me, I’m still not quite convinced of the transformative value in burlesque—after all, every number ends with what’s known as the “final reveal”—but I will say that I had a fun time. And as it tuns out, my note-taking didn’t feel that creepy at all. I suppose that’s because nothing seems that creepy about burlesque. It’s a celebration, rather than a perversion, and for that, I’ll hoot and holler with the rest of ‘em.

Photos by Holly Go Darkly

To find out about any and all upcoming burlesque shows in Los Angeles, please visit www.losangeles.Burlesque411.com.

You’re about to be inundated and you don’t even know it.  You’re so lucky that we’re here to give you a heads up.  Cati Jean is a name you’ll likely be very familiar with by the year’s end and for good reason.  Her French cabaret, L’effleur des Sens (meaning “flirting with the senses”), has slowly infiltrated the minds of anyone daring enough to head to the King King club in Hollywood.  Her choreography and her penchant for “flirting with the senses” are creeping up all over the place now and you’ll likely not be able to escape it – not that you’d want to. 

Now in it’s fourth season performing at the King King club, L’effleur des Sens is a group of classically trained, gorgeous dancers headed by Cati Jean.  They perform a number short vignettes that pack quite a punch inspired by Bob Fosse’s style and the tease of Parisian cabaret acts.

Jean, originally from Grasse in the South of France, came to the US to learn more about American dance.  She’s quickly become a fixture of dance in this country, with appearances on shows like “Step It Up and Dance,” the creation of L’effleur des Sens, and having provided choreography for an array of recent and upcoming TV shows and movies.  Her show at the King King encapsulates her goal of merging French style with American dance.  It mixes comedy and sensuality with the beautiful technique of classically trained dancers. 

Last week, I got a chance to check out the King King club and chat with the ladies and gentlemen (the lucky few) behind the scenes of L’effleur des Sens. All dolled up, I headed to Hollywood Blvd just east of Highland.  Nervously, I spotted the King King, which looks from the front like a shop of some sinister sort.  Once you park behind the club and show the menacing (but sweet) Russian your ID, however, you’re transported into a place that makes you forget you’re steps away from tourists snapping photos of Grauman’s Chinese.  You instantly feel like you just hopped over the pond and found yourself in a speakeasy in Paris.  When your emcee enters the stage with an accent that defiantly refuses to acknowledge he lives in America, you’re ready for anything.  Well, you need to be.  The show is a dazzling hour and fifteen minutes that ends too quickly and has only intermittent pauses during which the emcee comes out to chat with (or more often embarrass) the audience.  It’s all in good fun!  Check out our video interview! (It includes some footage of the show.  Just a taste for your senses, though.) 

L’effleur des Sens performs every other Thursday night at 9pm at the King King club in Hollywood.  For more information, please call (323) 960-5765 or click here.